Behind The Mask
by Frozen Yogurt
Summary: Naruto has fallen into depression because of Itachi's Sharingan. Whats with that book Naruto keeps writing in? It's up to Sakura to get Naruto back on his feet so that he can accept his role as Jounin. NarutoSakura pairing
1. Sakura Blossom's

Behind the Mask

Summary : Naruto has fallen into depression because of Itachi's Sharingan. Whats with that book Naruto keeps writing in? It's up to Sakura to get Naruto back on his feet in time for the Jounin exam's. Naruto/Sakura pairing

Chapter 1 : Sakura blossoms

"Owwww...Sakura-chan that hurts!"

"Baka stop moving around so much..."

Naruto and Sakura had just finished there mission in the sand and where on their way back to Konoha. During the trip, they were ambushed by A-class missing-nins from the mist and had to stop for the night. During the fight, Naruto got bruised up and for some reason and his healing powers were not working.

"Owwwww.. I said that hurts!"

"Well I have to clean out the wound if you ever want it to heal right!" Sakura yelled as she added more rubbing alcohol to his wound. Naruto winced and grabbed on to Sakura's arms. She blushed slightly and continued cleaning the wound on his forehead.

"So how come Kyuubi didn't just heal the wounds like usual?" Sakura asked

"He said something about him not always being around and that it would toughen me up a bit..Owwww!" Naruto yelled as Sakura slapped a bandage over the cut.

"Thanks Sakura-chan...by the way...how's your wound?" Sakura flinched and rubbed her stomach as she remembered the feeling cold steel plunge through her insides. She would have never made it if it wasn't for Naruto or that's what she was told. Kakashi-sensei told her that when Naruto saw her lying in a pool of blood, he completely flipped. She remembered seeing his face and drifting off into the darkness. Apparently, Chiyo-baasama's chakra wasn't enough to fully heal her and when Naruto found her, he used so of Kyuubi's chakra finish the job. So, here she is, making dinner for the both of them, while Naruto looked at her with concern.

"As good as new," Sakura said, "Thanks for saving me Naruto."

Naruto flashed her one of his grins. "Don't worry about it Sakura-chan! I'll always be here to protect you now that I'm back!" Sakura smiled at him and started serving rice into the bowls. She handed him a bowl, which he gladly accepted.

"Itadakimasu!" He exclaimed and began chowing down on his rice and fish. Once done eating and everything was packed away, they just sat down in front of the fire talking about what they've both learned over the couple years. An hour or two had pasted by then, then it was pitch black.

"Alright Sakura-chan, you can sleep first," Naruto said while getting up, "I'll take first watch."

"Ok thanks Naruto," Sakura pulled out a sleeping bad out of her back pack and set it up near the fire. Naruto turned around and looked out towards the blacking forest. As Sakura was getting into her sleeping bag, she noticed Naruto pull out a book from one of the pouches in his Jacket. Sakura laid down for a moment staring up at the sky and out of the corner of her eye, saw Naruto turn his head to check if Sakura was asleep. At first Sakura didn't mind but then every few seconds he would turn to look. Was he hoping she was asleep or was he waiting so that he can do perverted stuff? She squinted her eyes to make it look like she was sleeping and once Naruto looked at her again, he let out a sigh and began writing in the book.

_"I wonder what hr'd writing about..."_ She thought before finally falling asleep...

"Sakura, wake up..." A voice said. She slowly opened her eyes to see the bright sun and a pair of eyes. She almost forgot that they were out in the forest and almost yelled at the person she was with. She tried to get up but her hands and legs were tied together.

"What the hell!" she yelled struggling to get free. She then remembered she was with Naruto and this person had dark eyes, not the shining blue ones she was used to seeing. "Where's Naruto!"

"Tch...you mean him..." The man with dark eyes moved to the side and revealed Naruto, on the ground in a puddle of blood. Sakura fought the urge to scream. She could see the many holes that were in his chest and his left arm that was severed, thrown 4 feet away from him. "That little bastard was hard to kill."

"W-Who..." Sakura stuttered, trying to hold back her tears, "W-Who are you?"

The man just laughed, "How can you forget me Sakura-chan?" He put his face just inches away from hers, while Sakura tried the best she could to move her head away. His eyes looked so cold as she stared into them. She readied herself to bite her tongue off incase he tried to do anything funny. His eyes started to change color, as three coma's appeared around each pupil.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Sakura yelled. The raven-haired boy laughed. "Not quite..." He reached up to his face and started tearing away the skin, revealing one of the legendary sanin, Orochimaru. Sakura yelled as Orochimaru advanced towards her neck with his fangs bared.

"NO!"

Sakura shot up from her sleeping bag, sweating profusely. She reached up to her neck to find the bite mark, but it was never there. She breathed a sigh of relief and stared out into the dark forest. _"Why did I start dreaming of Sasuke-kun…"_ Memory's flooded her mind of the chuunin exam and the evil aura Sasuke was emitting. The fire started to burn out as a gust of wind flew across the air. She turned her head to look at the burnt embers and see if Naruto was still awake, but he was no where to be seen.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Sakura got out from her sleeping bag as fast as lighting and began to run towards the sound. Her night vision wasn't that great as she ran blindly threw the forest, leafs smacking her face. She heard another scream and made a hard left into a clearing. A small shrine stood in the middle of a small lake, with a giant Sakura tree overlooking the secluded area. The moonlight hit the clearing so well, it made a perfect reflection of the moon in the water.

She cautiously walked above the surface of the water, searching for the person who screamed. The pink-haired girl looked up at the giant tree and admired how it looked. Cherry blossoms littered the floor as the wind picked them off the cherry tree.

"AHHHHHH!" She turned to the shrine and ran as fast as she could.

_"That was definitely Naruto's voice!"_ She rammed her petite figure against the shrine door as stood in shock. Naruto was lying on the floor, his hands clutching onto his head. Sakura ran over to him and picked him up into his arms and shook him.

"Naruto! What's wrong! What happened!" She asked every time he shook him. Naruto just looked up at the ceiling crying.

"N-No! I didn't ki-kill him! It was an accident!" Naruto kept saying over and over again, as he made a fist with his hands.

"Naruto..whats wrong with you?"

"He's mentaly unstable at the moment…" Sakura turned her head and pulled a kunai out of her side pouch. A man at around six feet tell and raven hair stood in front of her. He wore a trench coat with red kumo's trailing around the back and a Konoha headband with a slash across it.

"Itachi! What did you do to him!" Sakura yelled

"I just used mangekyo on him…" Itachi said while walking away, "He won't be in top form for a while…" Itachi made his way for the shrine door, making hand seals on the way there.

"Come back here and fix him!" Sakura launched her kunai at him, which pierced Itachi in the back. Itachi fell with a poof as a cloud of smoke was released. "Kage bunshin…damnit…"

"Don't worry Naruto," Sakura said while picking him up, "I'm going to get you back to Konoha, Tsunada-sama will fix you up right away" She ran outside of the shrine and sped towards the leaf village. Naruto's clenched hand opened up and out fell a sakura blossom, floating away into the dark forest.


	2. Loved One's

Behind the Mask

Summary : Naruto has fallen into depression because of Itachi's Sharingan. Whats with that book Naruto keeps writing in? It's up to Sakura to get Naruto back on his feet in time for the Jounin exam's. Naruto/Sakura pairing

A/N : Sorry it took me a while to get this chapter out. It's just that freaking Gran Turismo 4 and Tekken 5 have completely taken over my life. Plus, I just switched schools so yea its been tough since I also have work and yea…The first half is a little comedy so enjoy.

Chapter 2 : Loved Ones

Genma was not having a good day. When he woke up this morning, he couldn't find his favorite senbon needle that he usually let hang from his mouth. For breakfast, all he had to eat was crackers…CRACKER for crying out loud! What kind of shinobi wakes up and thinks to themselves, "I want crackers for breakfast!" Oh and that's not all of it, Kakashi promised him that he would let him borrow Icha Icha Tactics when he came in yesterday but was he anywhere in site? Hell no! He's probably Beep Beep Beep gerbils Beep Beep salmon egg's Beep artificial beavers right now! So here he is, standing in front of the Konoha gate's, on guard duty.

A figure was quickly approaching him as he sat there staring off into the forest. He squinted his eye's and recognized the pink haired girl from when he visited the Hokage last week. She was carrying a limp form in her hands, which he identified as Naruto due to the orange outfit.

"Hey, what happened to him?" Genma asked

"Out of the way!" Sakura yelled as she ran towards the gate. "Open the damn doors!"

"Tell me what happened first!"

"Arghhh, I have no time for this…" She jumped up in the air and kicked the 1 ton oak door down. Genma just stared at the disappearing figure as it ran off towards the hospital.

"This is coming out of my salary…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Sakura watched Naruto's sleeping form as she listened to the life support system beep. She knew due to her medical experience that life support was not necessary but the nurse kept telling her it was required. The beeping just made her even more nervous and freighted for Naruto.

"NARUTO!" Sakura turned around at the voice and found her former sensei standing in the door way. She wore her regular white robes with green robes, but her hair was standing up in different directions.

_"She fell asleep again…"_ Sakura thought

"What happened to him Sakura?" Tsunade asked while walking over to Naruto's bed.

"I don't know…" Sakura said, "but I think Itachi used his Sharingan on him." Tsunada breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that all?" The godaime laughed, "All have him up faster than you can say Yondaime!"

"Yondaime…" Sakura whispered. Tsunade put her right hand above Naruto's forehead. Her hand started to glow blue as she applied chakra to it. She moved her hand to his eye's and let it sit there for a while. The chakra in her hand started to disappear as Naruto's eye's started to open.

"Naruto!" Tsunade flung her arm's around the blond boy as she pulled him into a motherly embrace. Naruto just sat there, a sad look on his face. Sakura just stared at him. Through all the years, she had never seen him with a look of grim on his face. His smile was one of the things she liked about him the most. No matter how bad the situation would be, he would give her that big goofy grin of his and tell her everything was alright. Tsunade then let go of him but kept her hands on his shoulders and looked him over. "Your feeling better right?"

Naruto's usually bright cerulean eye's, looked dead and jagged. Tsunade slowly moved her hands away as she stared into those eye's There was no life in them at all. This was not the Naruto Sakura knew. The Naruto she knew would ask her out on a date or want to get some ramen or something Narutoish. Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She stood up from her seat sat down in front of Naruto and grasped his hand.

"Naruto…" Sakura asked, with worry, "Whats wrong?"

"Can I have my book, please…" He asked without moving an inch.

Sakura nodded as she let go of his hand and walked over to the dresser. She searched his cloths for the small book she saw him writing in last night. Her search ended, when she found the book in the pocket in his orange pants. She closed the dresser, walked over to him and sat down. The pink haired girl handed him the book and watched as he closed his fingers around the spine of it.

"Anything else?" Sakura asked.

"I'd like to be left alone please…"

"Common Sakura lets go," Tsunada said, as she turned foot to leave. Sakura got up from the bed and made her way to the door. She took one more look at him and closed the door. Sakura took a deep breath and turned to her sensei. The godaime crossed her arms and leaned against the wall.

"Explain."

"Alright," Sakura started, "Naruto offered to take the first shift to watch over camp. Maybe a hour or two later, I woke up and he was nowhere to be seen. I heard a scream and started to run towards it. I came across a big sakura tree and shrine in the middle of a small lake. I walked into the shrine and saw Naruto on the ground, trembling. I picked him up and asked what happened but Itachi was there also. All he said was Mangekyo and something about slowing him down. I tried to stop him but when I thought I got him it was just a kage bunshin. So then I rushed him here…"

"Hmmm…"

"Sensei," Sakura said, "What's Mangekyo?"

Tsunade stropped leaning on the wall and straightened herself up. "Mangekyo is a jutsu that works with the sharingan. It makes the victim of it see what they fear the most or something really really bad." (I forgot the real definition lol) Tsunade started to pace back and forth, with her hand on her chin. "Usually it's something the person hated or feared in there past. It basically targets there mind and makes them go crazy. The jutsu I used is supposed to balance them out mentally but considering Naruto's case, it seems that it just wont go away."

"Do you think it has anything to do with kyu-" Sakura paused as she got a glare from Tsunade, "I mean the furball?"

"Probably, but don't jump to conclusions," Tsunade stopped pacing around, "I've got more paperwork to do so I'll see you around. You have the week off." After that sentence, she walked away into the dark hall.

"Oh Sensei!" Sakura said, "What that book that he asked for?"

"You'll have to ask him yourself," She said never turning around. With that said, Sakura turned and walked down her own dark hallways.

XXXXXXXXXX

The long walk home was really troublesome today. Sakura's memory kept kicking her in the head with the image of Naruto's sad face. His eye's were the feature she missed the most. He would only really open his eye's fully on a few occasions but secretly she loved those eye's even more than Sasuke-kun.

**_"Hell yea!"_** yelled Inner Sakura.

She realized that she had been thinking a lot about Naruto over the two years away from each other. Often she would wonder if he was alright or what he was doing or what he was thinking about. When she heard of Naruto being the container of Kyuubi, she was devastated. She remembered telling Naruto that he would never understand what Sasuke-kun was going through in his life, but now she mental kicked herself for never trying to understand Naruto. Was she starting to like Naruto-kun?

**_"Of course you like him! Hell yea!"_** Sakura just shook off the thought.

Sakura stopped by Ichiraku ramen bar and hoped she would see him there, eating his eleventh bowl of ramen, but her dream was cut short as she only saw the old man who ran the stand and his daughter. She didn't want to be rude so she sat down and ordered a small miso ramen. In a few short minutes, a hot steaming bowl of ramen was set in front of her by Ayame.

"Itadakimasu…" She said as she picked up her chop sticks and began to eat. Halfway through, she just sat there thinking of her blond friend, as she picked at her pieces of Naruto.

"So how'd you mission go with Naruto?" The old man asked.

"Not so good," Sakura kept looking at her naruto pieces but all she saw was her Naruto smiling at him. "Naruto's in the hospital as we speak."

"What happened to him?" Ayame asked

"He's fallen into depression I suppose…"

"I figured this would happen one day," the old man said, as he crossed his arms, "That boys been through a lot for his age, all because of that damn fox."

"Shhhhh…weren't not supposed to talk about that," Ayame whispered

"It's alright, I already know about Kyuubi."

"Oh ok…"

"What I want to know is whats in that book of his," Sakura said as she ate a naruto.

"Do you mean that small leather bound book he carries around with him all the time?" The old man asked.

"Yea that's the one!" Sakura exclaimed, "Do you know what he writes in it?"

"Nope but I remember the third Hokage giving it to him on his seventh birthday," He then turned to his daughter. "Isn't his birthday coming up and a few days?"

"Yeah, its actually in four days."

"I didn't know his birthday was in October," Sakura got up from her stool and pulled a few ryu out of her pocket at set it on the counter, "I'll have to get him something, thanks for the ramen!" She then ran out of the booth towards her house.

XXXXXXXXXX

"I'm home!" Sakura yelled as she took off her slippers. She ran into the kitchen and saw her mother, washing the dish's. "Hi mom!" Sakura said as she hugged her.

"Hi honey, how was the mission?"

"It was ok…"

"Ok? That's it?"

"Yea, I swear," She couldn't bring her mother into this. Last time Naruto got hurt, her mother insisted Sakura make him a bento lunch to make him feel better. It worked, but she thinks Naruto forced himself to eat the lunch. She tried it herself and it tasted awful, but he smiled at her, said it was great, and inhaled the whole thing.

"Alright…" Mrs. Haruno said as Sakura went to her room. "Say hi to you father."

"Ok mom!" Sakura ran into the family room and jumped on the black recliner. "Hi Dad!"

Mr. Haruno just looked at her and switched the T.V. off. "What wrong dad?"

"That Naruto kid didn't do anything to you right?" He asked seriously.

"Dad, I already told you he's a good guy!" Sakura said, "He could be a baka at sometimes but he would never try to hurt me!"

"I just don't like the idea of you hanging around him. That seal could break any second!"

"Tsunade-sensei taught me how to restore the seal so don't worry!"

"Hmffff whatever…" Sakura just rolled her eye's and ran to her room. She changed into her pajama's and laid down under her pink sheet's. Images of Naruto flooded her mind again as she went off into dream world.

XXXXXXXXXX

The white rooms in the hospital got very dark at night. In room nine, a small overhead lamp, shun over the blond haired boy. His book was open as his hand trembled on the last word.

"_Demon child!" _

"_Stay away from me!"_

"_Don't play with him dear, he's dangerous."_

"_Get away from my kids!"_

"_Why did you kill him! Why did you have to take him away from me!"_

"_Monsters don't have feelings…"_

"_Burn in hell demon!"_

Naruto started to shed tears when his pencil snapped as he wrote the last word…loved…He put the book on the small nightstand next to his bed and cried himself to sleep.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Look Sakura-san…" Iruka started, It was the next morning and Sakura decided that if she needed to get some information she needed to ask the people Naruto cared most for. "Naruto has been through a lot his whole 15 years of life. Me and him are very similar. No parent's, no one to look after us, no one to talk to, we were alone most of are lives. Naruto's case was even worse since he never knew what it was like to be loved by someone. All Naruto needs is someone to look after him and keep on letting him know that there are people in this world that care for him."

Sakura just stood there taking in as much of it as she could. Since she already knew about Kyuubi, she understood more than she would have 3 years ago.

"But Sakura-san," Iruka paused and looked her straight in the eye's, "You need to understand, that when Naruto wants to be alone, he really wants to be alone. He may look like the saddest person alive, but leave him alone if he asks to be, ok?"

"Ok," Sakura slid open the door and stepped outside, "I'll remember that, arigatou sensei," Sakura bowed and closed the door. Iruka sat at his desk a grin creeping up onto his face as he reminisced on the days when he taught his favorite student.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Ohaiyo!" Sakura had found herself in one of the worst place's. She usually only came here when Sasuke-kun was hurt, but during the past two years, she realized it was just a silly crush. This place…this place filled with flowers upon flowers of different shapes and colors…was hell itself. "Hi forehead freak!" Yamanako's Flower Shop…

"Hey Ino-pig" Sakura sighed, as she started looking around the shop.

"So who are you buying flowers for?" Ino still wore her purple outfit with the bandages under it except now she wore a chuunin vest. She had to replace her headband with a blue one because she gave the ribbon back to Sakura since they weren't rivals anymore. "Are they for Naruto?"

"Yeah, who else would they be for?"

"Your starting to fall head over heals for Naruto huh?" Ino said smiling, she put her hands on her chin, grinning like a mad man at her.

"No way I'd like Naruto-kun in a million years!"

"Kun?" Ino said laughing

"I meant baka!" Sakura yelled while blushing.

"Then why of all flowers are you buying a rose for him?" Sakura looked down at her hands and saw the flower she absent mindedly picked up. A red rose with a few thorns still on the stem. "Rose's are very beautiful except that if you handle them wrong, they'll bite you in the ass…" (I'm not good with the flower explanation thing lol) Sakura sighed as she pulled out 10 ryu from her pocket. Ino held up a hand, signaling free of charge.

"Thanks Ino-pig,"

"Don't mention it Forehead freak," Sakura walked outside of the flower shop on her way to the hospital. She needed to find out a way to figure out what Naruto was thinking. That's when the idea hit her like a brick wall. She quickly ran back to the flower shop and slammed the door open. "Ino! I need a favor!"

A/N : Well there go's the second chapter for you all. Till next time folks! Remember Review and the next chapter will come out sooner!


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